Birds of a Feather
by T1meslayer
Summary: When Link awakens from the Wind Fish's dream, he returns to Hyrule with hopes that Zelda can help him parse the strange feelings he still carries from Koholint Island. She encourages him to reconnect with an old friend. A three-part divergence from the "official" Zelda timeline that crosses over events from 'Ocarina of Time' and 'Link's Awakening.' Story suitable for all ages.
1. The Awakening

_**Hello everyone! This is my first take on an alternate reality fanfiction, even if it doesn't dive very deep into changing the Zelda "universe." It essentially plays on the direct canons of two different games, but diverges by the titles being paired in the first place.**_

_**To make things simple: Imagine that the events of '****Link's Awakening'**** occurred during Link's search for Navi following '****Ocarina of Time****,' rather than the events of '****Majora's Mask****.'**_

_**The story was going to be a one-shot looking at one of my favorite relationship pairing with the Hero of Time (there are many good options), but it turned out longer than anticipated. So I split it into three chapters for easier consumption.**_

_**[P.S. — Before you ask, I know that Marin existed before Malon, who in turn was based on the island girl from '****Link's Awakening****.' My story will present it as though the inspirations are reversed, but rest assured I've done my research.]**_

_**[P.P.S. — The image I used is "Caneel Bay Seagulls By Caneel Beach 16" by Fred Hsu, obtained via Wikimedia Commons.]**_

_**Enjoy.**_

* * *

**The Awakening**

A cool, frothy wave rushes up the hero's back, and he awakens with a start. The water runs down his shirt with an uncomfortable squelch and leaves him clawing at the splintered stretch of mast he managed to grab before his ship was completely enveloped by the previous night's stormy maelstrom.

It was lucky that he had. If the loose piece of wreckage hadn't stayed afloat, Link would undoubtedly be at the bottom of the ocean; No better than the Stalfos he so easily broke apart.

He stops trying to scratch his way up the wet cylinder when a realization hits.

Link stares off into the middle distance, icy blue eyes getting lost in the endless expanse of cobalt water around him. Where was Koholint Island? It may not have been the largest landmass he had explored, but there was no way it could have just…

Disappeared.

Unless, of course, all those things the nightmares and the owl told him were true. That the island was purely a dreamed-up construct, and that waking the Wind Fish wiped away its existence.

At the time, he refused to believe their words. The island — and all of its residents — seemed so real. How could it all have been a dream?

Shivers ran up Link's spine as the breeze cools his wet back, causing the crumpled-up fabric of his tunic to stick like a bad case of pneumonia.

He could question reality later. For now, he needed to get out of the water.

It doesn't take long for the boy to find a larger piece of debris floating by that was close enough for him to swim to: A chunk of the old ship's deck with a miraculously standing barrel in one corner. If he was lucky, it might be storing food.

Link paddles his legs so he can keep his head above the water and catch his breath. Once he builds up enough strength, he dives underneath the waves and breaststrokes to the other side of the broken mast. Then he goes into a freestyle stroke to get to the floating chunk of wood.

He finds it much easier to climb up onto the flat surface, and once he's there he can finally lay back and relax.

Though his lower legs were still dangling in the ocean, Link lies on the warped, sun-dried wood with his arms spread to catch the sun's rays for a long time.

Eventually he sits up to properly collect his thoughts.

"It really was a dream…" Link mutters under his breath.

He was a quiet, soft-spoken boy. However, he was known to talk with people he cared about — particularly himself. It just wasn't often, and you would be remiss to expect long, fruitful conversations.

Link was much more expressive in his actions than his words.

Almost everything he did was proactive, such as pulling off his pointy green hat to wring out the saltwater saturating its fabric. He grimaces imagining how close he was to drowning in this salty brine and wishes he could have kept the Zora Tunic he received in that doomed future. If he could, he would avoid ever having to worry about that fate.

That thought sends his stomach for a loop as he stares at the twisted-up hat.

He had gone to the future through the Temple of Time to stop Ganondorf, and eventually stayed in the past. _THAT_ was his reality.

Koholint Island was just a dream, even if it felt like a lifetime.

He couldn't stand the thought that everything he had done was just an illusion. That everyone he met was some crazy delusion concocted in the back of his head to keep his bodily systems running as he died from hypothermia in the ocean.

Was it all a lie?

Luckily Link wouldn't have to suffer the tribulations of questioning his mind for long, as an impossibly huge shadow passes over his chunk of debris and blots out the sun.

He throws his head back to watch the sky. Just overhead was the immense white underbelly of the Wind Fish.

As the celestial beast roars, Link feels another tingle pass across his skin, raising goosebumps everywhere it went. All but his sense of hearing went numb as a faint memory unburied itself.

The ambient sounds of waves and seagulls went fuzzy, like he was hearing the world through a seashell.

He heard the Ballad of the Wind Fish; so clear it seemed as though Marin herself were singing it to him in front of the weather vane.

A soft smile cracks across his chapped lips.

If the Wind Fish was real, then something else would remember the dream. It would live on in their shared memories.

Link chuckles to himself and waves good-bye to the Wind Fish while it uses the breeze as a bed of water. He waves until his arm felt sharp pains from the hefty motions.

Never did the boy think he would feel such an intimate connection with a whale. Especially a flying whale covered in gemstones and tapestries straight out of a Gerudo Valley loom.

As the Wind Fish disappears on the horizon behind clouds of cotton, Link begins to see an apparition left in its wake. He gasps when he realizes he was looking at the upper body of Marin, watching over him.

She was truly unforgettable, everything from that fiery hair with the bright red flower to her honey-sweet voice.

Yet… He felt a strange pang of familiarity in his chest. Familiarity that ran deeper than his time on the island.

The longer he stared at her visage in the sky, the more things began to fall into place.

He gasps; suddenly aware of whom he was looking at.

As a seagull glides through the sky, Link knew he needed to follow it back home to Hyrule.


	2. The Princess of Hyrule

**The Princess of Hyrule**

"Oh Link! It's so good to see you again, my friend!"

The Princess of Hyrule kept the green-clad hero in a tight, backbreaking hug for what felt like hours.

He didn't mind of course. Until about ten minutes ago he wasn't sure he would even be granted an audience with the royal family after that awkward performance he stumbled through with one of the castle guards. Waiting for him to return and possibly say that Zelda didn't remember some pointy-eared forest boy was one of the more anxiety-inducing experiences Link could imagine.

But she did remember him. Fondly.

Link had left Hyrule years ago, when they were still children. He told the young Zelda how their world fell into the hands of the King of Evil before he disappeared, hoping that vanquishing him in the future and preventing his reign in the past would bring an end to the Gerudo man's oppression once and for all.

Now that Link was back, they were about the same age as when he had travelled through the Temple of Time. Yet in all those years, her gratitude had never dissipated.

"Everything you told me about that foul Ganondorf and his coup was spot-on," Zelda mutters in his ear. Clearly her father sitting on his throne nearby was unaware of Link's role. "Thanks to you, we stopped that terrible future."

The blond boy smiles warmly and nods, finally hugging Zelda and scrunching up the back of her flowing purple dress.

After a moment she pulls away and rests her hands on his shoulders to give teenage Link a quick examination. He might remember her from the future, but that timeline had never occurred from her perspective.

"Tell me, did you have any luck finding your little fairy friend?" Her voice was soft and hopeful, punctuated by a smile that pushed in her dimples.

Link looks down at the floor between their feet and shakes his head.

"Oh…" She huffs, puffing her cheeks out slightly. "That's too bad. I'm sorry, Link."

He shrugs; assuring that it was okay before looking up to meet her eyes.

"Say, can we possibly speak somewhere more private?"

The boy tilts his head just enough to see the King of Hyrule glaring from his high seat at the end of the hall. Zelda looks over her shoulder and giggles.

"Of course." She whirls around to face the King, and the hem of her dress flows out like a flower's petals. "Daddy, we're going to go catch up."

He offers nothing more than a raised hand, a brief wave good-bye. Zelda giggles and grabs Link's wrist to pull him along as she runs off. Link stumbles over his boots for a second, but manages to catch his footing so he can keep up.

* * *

The Princess takes him out to the small circular garden where they had first met.

Link was struck when he first arrived, spinning around in the center of it all so he could take in every detail. It was all as he remembered, from the flowers to the weird paintings hanging throughout various halls of the castle he could see in nearby windows.

Even Impa stood at the entryway, leaning against the same section of brick she had years ago. Just as he remembered. Link offers her a sheepish wave, which she returns with a cautious nod.

Apparently privacy was not a robust concept for Hyrule's heir.

But at least Impa was a Sage of the Sacred Realm, someone he could trust.

His fixation on the imposing, toned bodyguard is broken as Zelda calls him over to a small stone bench; just big enough for two.

Link takes a seat next to the smiling princess in purple and lets out a deep sigh.

"So, what would you like to talk about?" She asks.

Even if he had no time to really soak in the nostalgia and rest his aching feet, Link was glad she kept him to the point. The same thoughts had been nagging him since he was awoken at sea, and now he could finally start to get closure.

"Do you know anything about prophetic dreams, Zelda?"

He turns his head to find her looking somewhat confused by the question. The tips of his ears burn scarlet under her scrutiny.

However her confusion soon turns into intrigue.

"Yes!" She chimes with a giggle. "I used to have them all the time. In fact, that's how I knew I could trust you the first time you arrived at the castle."

Her body turns slightly so she can take both his hands into her silky, gloved hands and lift them up. She lets out a more jovial, hearty laugh as the dangling jewelry adorning her outfit and head jingle with each motion.

Link could clearly remember the hardened, calloused Zelda of the future he once visited. She was a girl haunted by her failure to protect the Triforce and her people. That Princess Zelda took up the mantle of Shiek so she could sneak around the Kingdom and provide aid to whatever guerilla forces opposed Ganondorf.

But this Zelda did not grow up under a dictator who poisoned the land with his very presence.

It showed through the childlike splendor she carried from her youth.

"Why do you ask?" She questions with a tilted head.

The boy pulls his hands free so he can rest them on his white leggings. He takes a breath through his nose and lets it out through his mouth while staring at the grass.

"During my travels I was shipwrecked at sea," he begins. "While I floated on the debris, I dreamt of a place called Koholint Island. I was young again, as though living an entirely new existence. I abused that new lease on life as though I were an indestructible toy."

He chuckles and shakes his head. She responds with a smile while resting a hand on his back.

"As it turned out, I was actually trapped in the sleeping mind of a being called the Wind Fish. I had to save the Wind Fish by destroying its nightmares and collecting magical instruments to wake it from that deep slumber."

When Link looks over at Zelda, she had an eyebrow raised.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but it felt so real. Almost everything about the island it dreamt up seemed inspired by what I knew — right down to the people living there."

For a brief moment he glances at Impa to make sure she wasn't listening in. Something about this next part made him feel a little self-conscious, and the red rushing across his cheeks was obvious.

"The most real thing about the island was a girl. Marin."

"Marin?" Zelda leans in.

"Yes," he nods. "She was this caring island girl with long, fiery orange hair dotted by a red flower, soft features and a beautiful singing voice. But she was so much more than that: She was funny, and a little snarky at times; she had hopes and dreams that she shared with me on the beach."

When Link looks back at Zelda, his eyes were sullen and sympathetic.

"I know it was a dream, but it just felt so real."

"I understand." Zelda says in a comforting tone as she brings an arm around his shoulder. She pulls him into a hug from the side, and he gladly leans into it.

"When I woke up again, she was the first thing that came flooding back to me. But I realized I wasn't actually thinking of Marin. Marin was actually—"

"Malon."

Link pauses with his mouth hanging open, stunned.

"Yes," he manages to squeak out after a moment spent sputtering out half-words from a twisted tongue. "How did you know?"

Zelda giggles again, bemused by her friend's shock.

"Red hair, a beautiful singing voice, a bit of a hard edge," she lists off while counting each point on outstretched fingers. "Your subconscious was not exactly subtle, Link."

"I guess not," he mutters with a shrug.

"My father and I have invited the Lon Lon Ranch family to dinner many a time. Their milk products are unsurpassed." She folds her right fist in her left hand and brings them up to her chest. "Truly lovely people, too."

Link nods as he gazes at the floor. Thinking about the farm girl brings a smile to his face, and Zelda quickly picks up on that.

She snickers mischievously, sharp grin bared as though she were a schoolgirl matchmaker.

"Link. If I can tell you anything based on that dream, it's that you should visit Lon Lon Ranch sooner rather than later."

"You think so?"

"Yes, dummy!"

She scoffs and gently slaps him on the back of the head, causing him to bend over with a surprised grunt as his green cap falls into his hands.

He glares at her, nonverbally asking if that was really necessary.

Her smile clearly responds that it was. She brings both hands up and runs them through his scruffy blond locks a few times, trying to fix his hat hair. The boy groans at the matriarchal gesture, but does nothing to stop it.

"Trust me. I can even provide you with the perfect gift to bring along!"


	3. The Farm Girl

**The Farm Girl**

It was a sweltering summer afternoon in Hyrule Field, particularly on the raised plateau where Lon Lon Ranch was situated.

But that didn't stop Malon from being out in the brown-fenced paddock, taking care of her afternoon chores with gusto. Grooming the horses was a particular favorite task for the girl — especially when it came to the beautiful draft horse whose silvery mane she was currently brushing. Epona had been a wild little foal, and Malon had no qualms reminding her about that alongside a gentle boop on her black snout every time she started to act out.

It was pretty rare that she did act out, however. Epona was easily placated whenever Malon started to hum that lazy little tune her mother had used as a lullaby years ago.

She was a grown woman now, long past the days of being sung to sleep. So she told herself, anyway.

In fact, Malon had developed quite a bit in the seven years since Ganondorf's coup was dismantled before it began. She was a tall and healthy girl, built tough by her years working on a farm. Yet she was truthfully only just coming of age, and her adoration for this rowdy mare was in part built on a foundation of her deep-seeded desire to truly take on her spirit and run free. Free from this farm — and maybe even this continent — that had been her home for forever.

But escape would have to wait for another day. There was work to do.

As the redhead passes a sleepy glance toward the farmhouse on the other side of the enclosure, she sees a boy in a green tunic looking around like a tourist as he clears the top of the spiraling grassy path onto the plateau's surface. The idea of having to deal with a visitor on a Sunday makes her groan, but she puts on her happiest 'public-facing' expression all the same.

"Excuse me!" She calls out with a chipper twang, catching his attention.

From the entryway, Link smiles at the sight of Malon and Epona — both faces he had not seen in a great many years and an entire other dimension of time and space.

He picks up his pace into more of a jog so he can meet Malon at the choppy fencing that separated the pasture from a matted-down dirt racetrack.

"I'm real sorry mister, but the ranch is closed today." Malon slips through a broken portion of the fence that she was just slim enough to match so she can join Link on the other side. "You'll have to come back tomorrow if you want to visit the bar."

Link was momentarily taken aback by the offer; having not remembered any kind of bar being operated here. But he shakes off the confusion and clears his throat.

"Actually, if it's all the same, I'm here to visit you."

Malon's reaction was not confusion so much as it was wariness. She leans away from this stranger asking to see her and grips the fencing tight with her right hand in case he tried to pull something.

"Pardon? I'm… Not sure what I personally would be able to assist you with."

The green-clad hero smiles and lets a light chuckle escape.

"Right. I guess you don't really recognize me, do you Malon?"

Before she has any chance to react, Epona trots up to the fence and starts sniffing at Link's shoulder. He looks to the horse with a much happier grin and pets the gentle animal.

"Hey girl… Guess you still remember me, huh?" Epona whinnies in response, puffing hot air out of her nostrils and nearly knocking off his hat.

Something about the sight of Epona with this man in green did strike Malon as being vaguely familiar. She can't quite put her finger on it…

Until Link begins to hum Epona's Song. He wasn't nearly as gifted as she was without an instrument, but there were only a finite number of people who knew that tune. Even fewer who had such a calming effect on Epona.

"Fairy Boy?" Malon says in wide-eyed disbelief, leaning in to get a better look.

Link lets go of Epona as he looks back at her, nodding affirmatively.

Malon scoffs and shakes her head.

"Well I'll be damned! It's been an awful long time since you showed your mug around these parts," she says while growing a bit of a goofy smile. "Last time I saw you we must've been about 'ye' tall."

The girl leans her upper body back so she can hold both hands comically close to the floor.

They share a fleeting laugh at her comment.

When it passes, Link gives her a non-committal combination of an arm-raised shrug and a nod. The nonverbal equivalent of, "yeah that's about right." That kicks off a pleasant moment of silence where Malon adjusts the dragon-shaped broach holding her yellow shawl together as he rests his hands on his hips.

Eventually, the tips of Malon's pointy, Hyrulian ears start to burn as she realizes how rude she was being. With an apologetic and frantic tone, she gestures back over to the beige, red-roofed farmhouse he passed when coming in.

"Please! How about you come inside for a little milk. I wouldn't want you catching your death out here in the heat."

He graciously accepts with a nodding smile, and then lets her lead the way with a full-bodied saunter, arms folded behind her back.

* * *

The farm girl forces Link to sit patiently at the ranch's hand-carved wooden dining room table ("Make yourself at home," she insisted) while zipping all around to collect a few glass bottles of Lon Lon Milk and a plate of freshly warmed-up biscuits. It was far more than he felt was necessary, but she was sweet to offer it all up.

By the time she finally sits down across from him, Malon needs a moment to catch her breath while brushing off the long purple skirt and brown apron that her white shirt was tucked into.

It wasn't easy preparing for an unexpected guest.

Luckily, her expression immediately brightens up seeing Link offer an affirmative nod before picking up a baked good from the china she laid out. As he bites into it, some of the flaky treat sprinkles onto his tunic. Seeing him make a mess leaves her chuckling.

"So, what all have you been up to Fairy Boy?" She asks while lacing her fingers along the table.

Link swallows back the bite in his mouth and sets the half-eaten biscuit down.

"Travelling," he remarks. "Searching for an old friend mostly. Someone from the forest."

"I see!" Malon smiles. "I've always loved the idea of gettin' to travel the world, to fly to far away places and meet all kind of folk. Free like a bird, ya' know?"

Link's posture tenses. Her words echoes in his brain with a familiar ache, bringing to mind the shores of Koholint Island. Bringing to mind that time he sat with Marin on a log of driftwood.

"Yeah," he says with a light snicker. "You always have been looking for that knight in shining armor to take you away, huh?"

Malon's expression quickly changes. Her eyes widen and her slightly rounded cheeks drain of color.

"H-How could you've possibly known that, Link?" She squeaks out with a flustered stutter, fingers squeezing into fists.

The blond boy grunts as his shoulders tighten with a twitch.

This was bad. He learned all of this about her in that future timeline from a chattering Gossip Stone; a future timeline that she would have no memory of because it didn't technically happen for her.

Time travel. What a mess.

His eyes dart around until he comes up with some semblance of a reasonable excuse.

"Ah… Call it… Intuition?" He shrugs. When she doesn't look any less concerned by that explanation, Link sighs. "Also… I was in Hyrule Castle Town before this and heard about you staring at some of the guards."

It wasn't great that he had to throw her downstream to save his own hide, but the excuse seemed to work. Her color returns as that look of being spooked by his creepiness was replaced by sheer embarrassment.

"Oh gosh. Guess I have been known to lose myself from time to time," she says quietly before trying to laugh off the moment. "Hopefully nobody said anything about the time I tripped over a Cucoo in the town square."

He laughs alongside her to try and diffuse the tension.

"Nope. That one's all you."

Malon uncorks her bottle of milk and gluttonously starts downing the stuff, hoping to cool off her burning face and regain a little energy. Link is impressed watching how quickly the drink is gulped, especially when she puts the half-empty bottle down with a sigh.

"So, how about you then?" Link asks to try and transition. "What have you been up to?"

She looks grateful for the chance to change subjects.

"Well I don't want to talk your ear off with anything too boring. There's not much excitement in the life of a little ol' farm girl like me."

"I imagine the business is plenty interesting," he assures.

Malon giggles and shrugs.

"It's been lucrative, if nothin' else. Talon and I're busy taking care of the ranch and sometimes busier not." She idly starts to run her hands through her hair, brushing the long, red mop over her shoulders. "I opened up a milk bar in one've the older buildings across the way. Everyone's free to come by for it four days a week."

"Really?" Link raises an eyebrow and subconsciously mimics her by running a hand through the blond hair under his hat.

"Mmhm! While we traveled into town, lotsa people kept asking if there was somewhere they could go to get our milk with a lil' more atmosphere. Decided we would make one, and it's been fun!"

She picks up a biscuit eats half of it, quickly washing that down with some milk.

"You'd be amazed how much gossip y'hear when you sit a buncha folks down with some drinks."

"Yeah?"

"Yup!" Malon giggles, drawing another smile out of Link.

"Most interesting thing I think I heard was there could've been a revolt in the castle a few years back." Link scoffs knowingly, but lets her continue as if he knew nothing. "Sounds like things could've gone real bad if the Princess hadn't intervened. Seems she knew bad stuff was gunna go down from a dream or some such thing."

Link carefully looks her over while she tells various tales of intrigue. It was easy to see how she was the inspiration for Marin, but there were a good number of differences from the image burned into the sky that he drunkenly soaked in.

Malon has more fair skin than the islander, and sharp blue eyes instead of Marin's warm orange. Her features were plumper from a lifelong diet of rich foods straight from the land, yet clearly tougher and more dirt-spackled thanks to years of farm work.

Most strikingly, that honeyed, confident voice he heard in his dreams was the same. But Malon's speech sounded more like drawn out taffy thanks to her countryside drawl.

Link could have bathed in her voice for hours and lost himself in her eyes.

But here she pulls him back into reality by brushing a calloused hand along the thin layer of his white undershirt just before his right glove. She was taken in a laugh at some comment he had missed, so he smiles and nods along to pretend he caught on.

"Isn't that the darndest thing, Fairy Boy?"

That nickname kind of annoyed him when they were kids, but the lurch in his stomach told him that now he couldn't get enough of it.

"Yeah, crazy." He remarks simply before clearing his throat. "Say. I know this is a bit out of the blue, but would you mind if I played you something?"

Malon is confused by the offer until he rummages through his belongings and pulls out a light-brown ocarina with eight holes that had a green band around where the mouthpiece connected to the instrument.

The Fairy Ocarina: A memento from his childhood friend.

It was lucky he had hung onto it for so long, as it would have been inappropriate to keep the Ocarina of Time.

The redhead beams with understanding and eagerly nods.

"Yes! Please do."

Link nods and clears his throat again, hoping his nerves would pass by the time he puts the instrument up to his mouth and closes his eyes.

They don't, but that doesn't stop him.

He plays the Ballad of the Wind Fish; an extended version he remembered performing at the Wind Fish's egg. Just without the extra musical accompaniment.

Malon smiles sweetly and sways her head to the melody, hands clasped together.

When the song is finished, Link slowly opens his eyes to gauge her approval. She certainly looked happy, but it was hard to tell whether it was idle contentment or her reaction to the piece.

Eventually, he has to hold his hands out curiously to prompt her response. A gesture that suggested he was saying, "well?"

"Hmm…" Malon closes her eyes and hums the opening bars of the piece back to him. "The performance could use some work, but it's lovely!"

Link rolls his eyes, but smirks. That was exactly what Marin had told him.

"What is it?" Malon continues.

"It's called the Ballad of the Wind Fish," Link says. It takes him a second to work himself up to continuing. "It was inspired by you, actually."

The farm girl is stunned and leans back, covering her heart.

"Oh! Oh my, Link…" That somewhat goofy smile returns as she giggles and has to look away. "I'm flattered! But how could it be? We haven't seen each other in years."

"I know," he says. Suddenly he felt like he was on autopilot. The words kept coming unprompted. "But I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since, Malon."

All she can do is scoff, completely lost for words.

He senses that hesitation and continues.

"I also got you something."

He rummages through his things once again and pulls out a small box that was (not so subtly) bearing the seal of the royal family. Malon notices, but doesn't say anything as Link waves it off.

"They were selling this in Hyrule Castle Town when I got back, and I thought it would look good on you. In your hair, perhaps."

He barely starts to push the box across the table when she snatches it up. Two golden clasps pop before the lid swings open, leading Malon to gasp.

Link couldn't help but think of a four-toned jingle in his head when she opens it.

Malon pulls a red hibiscus flower out of the box's velvet lining. It was perfectly preserved and crisp, with a small yellow tip at the end of its pistil. Her face can barely reach the same saturated shade of red as the flower, but boy does it try.

"Link…" She mumbles. "This is beautiful, but…"

She doesn't have the chance to ask why.

"I found this kind of flower on an island I visited in my travels. It's exotic, right?" He smiles. "You should try it on."

Malon nods and fiddles around with her hair for a moment, eventually getting it to stick out of the more orange locks right around her left ear.

Once in she nervously clears her throat before gesturing to her head.

"Well? What do you think?"

He thought he could fall in love with her, there and then.

"You look amazing," he assures.

As she desperately flounders to find the words to thank him, Link briefly glances out a nearby window. The horse enclosure sat quietly out in the distance, frozen in time as they shared this moment. Until a seagull passes overhead.

Link knew now that he was home, and he had no intention of leaving again anytime soon.

* * *

_**There we are! Another attempt to dip my toe into every Nintendo fandom.**_

_**This story was born out of my adoration for the new ****Link's Awakening**** remake on the Nintendo Switch, if that weren't obvious enough. It allowed me to play an acclaimed Zelda story for the first time and I had a blast. **_

_**It's gorgeous and heartfelt. If you're interested in the game but have not pulled the trigger, I would highly recommend it.**_

_**Like I mentioned at the beginning of the story, I know Marin inspired Malon and not vice versa. Yet, I experienced ****Ocarina of Time**** first and couldn't help but compare the two with Malon at the forefront. Luckily Marin's status as a literal dream construct opened up this interesting way to splice Zelda chronology together.**_

_**Insert easy jab at the "Official Zelda Timeline" here.**_

_**That said; let me know what you thought of this attempt to do a more contained multi-part story!**_

_**Thanks so much for taking the time to read my stuff. Hope you have a great day!**_


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